The response to the Federated Farmers earthquake assistance line has been fantastic.

Federated Farmers is fielding plenty of offers of help for North Canterbury farmers affected by the earthquakes but the big challenge is reaching those who may be most in need.

The number 0800 FARMING (0800 327 646) was set up for farmers to tell us what they need, and for us to match them up with people making offers of assistance, Federated Farmers Adverse Events spokesperson Katie Milne says.

“In these situations, a lot of people want to offer support but it’s not always clear who needs it, especially in an area like this where power and communications outages make contact so difficult.” . .

North Canterbury farmers cut off by Monday’s earthquake are calling out for help and are frustrated that helicopters have been flying over them to Kaikoura and not stopping to check on them, Federated Farmers says.

Federated Farmers spokesperson Katie Milne said they had managed to reach isolated farms by helicopter yesterday, and were greeted by some very relieved farmers.

They were very pleased to see someone, they’d been able to hear the choppers going backwards and forwards and seen the odd news one go through, she said.

Dairy farmers in the Kaikoura district are managing to get all their cows milked despite a power cut, no water and damage to milking sheds.

But some have no option but to dump milk until road access is reopened.

Two sheds in the district are no longer usable. The farmers concerned have been able to send their cows to functioning shed and avoid having to dry their cows off just as the milking season gets under way. . .

Federated Farmers has reopened its Adverse Events Trust Fund to raise funds to support farms affected by the North Canterbury earthquake.

The trust fund will take donations which will be spent on immediate emergency support for farms, including emergency supplies, farm equipment, essential tools and materials.

“It’s a times like this that people are so keen to help, and that’s fantastic, but we have to be aware, the reality is dollars are going to be required to get these farms back up and running,” Federated Farmers adverse events spokesperson Katie Milne says. . .

Awatere Valley parish nurse Rachael Westenra and her husband Warren were on their farm, near Seddon, when Monday’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck. Not long after, they were on the road checking on elderly people in the community.

When RNZ spoke to her this morning she was about to head out again. She told Marcus Stickley what the past few days have meant for her and the community she’s been part of for 30 years.

That evening we had come home from Christchurch and we were tucked up in bed, as you are at midnight. We just dived out of bed and dived for cover when the earthquake started. It just went on and on and on.

There was no power. You could hear everything crashing around you. And we literally – and I know now it’s not the right thing to do – stood in the doorway together and just held onto the doorway because otherwise we would have been knocked off our feet. It was just a matter of standing there until things calmed a wee bit. . .

Chinese infant formula imports are now worth more than twice the value of whole milk powder (WMP) imports. According to Italian information analysis company CLAL, infant formula imports to China for the first nine months of this year had a landed value of US $2.1 billion, whereas WMP imports were valued at only $US 0.87 billion. This was despite the WMP volumes being more than double those of infant formula. On a per kilo basis, the infant formula had a landed value of US $12.63 whereas the WMP was valued at US $2.52.

New Zealand is the dominant supplier of China’s imported WMP, with more than 90% market share. However, New Zealand is only a small player in the infant formula market, with 11% of Chinese imports. . .

Rabobank has announced the appointment of Sir Henry van der Heyden as chairman of Rabobank New Zealand Limited, succeeding John Palmer who has retired from the board.

The bank has also announced Scales Group managing director Andy Borland has joined the New Zealand board, filling the position left vacant by Mr Palmer’s departure.

The world’s leading specialist food and agribusiness bank, Rabobank is one of New Zealand’s largest rural lenders and a major provider of corporate and business banking services to the country’s food and agribusiness sector. The bank also operates online retail savings and investments business RaboDirect. . .

The window of opportunity for dairy trainees, dairy managers and share managers to give their farming career a boost, closes on November 30.

Entries for the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards have been steadily rolling in since entries opened in October, with 276 entries across the three competitions received so far.

General Manager Chris Keeping says if some-one is still considering entering, they should do so soon. “The sooner a person enters, the longer they have to prepare their farming business for judging,” she explains. . .

The Drinks Business Lifetime Achievement Award looks for an individual who has “excelled throughout their career in furthering environmental, sustainable or ethical practices in the drinks industry to the benefit and education of others. This individual will have dedicated a significant part of their working life to environmental and/or ethical causes. Whether in areas of production, marketing or management this individual will have a dedication to all matters green or ethical and will have sought to introduce a culture of best practice in these areas where ever they have been able to have some influence.”Yealands Wine Group Founder and Principal, Peter Yealands, has been recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Award at The Drinks Business Green Awards 2016 for his continued innovation and commitment to sustainable practices. His company, Yealands Wine Group (Yealands), on the same night received a Renewable Energy Implementation runner-up award for the installation of the largest solar array in New Zealand on their winery roof. . .

Data released today by the Real Estate Institute of NZ (“REINZ”) shows there were five fewer farm sales (-1.4%) for the three months ended October 2016 than for the three months ended October 2015. Overall, there were 353 farm sales in the three months ended October 2016, compared to 388 farm sales for the three months ended September 2016 (-9.0%), and 358 farm sales for the three months ended October 2015. 1,760 farms were sold in the year to October 2016, 1.7% more than were sold in the year to October 2015, with 26% fewer dairy farms and 6% fewer grazing farms sold over the same period.

The median price per hectare for all farms sold in the three months to October 2016 was $25,974 compared to $27,579 recorded for three months ended October 2015 (-5.8%). The median price per hectare fell 3.2% compared to September. . .

Data released today by the Real Estate Institute of NZ (“REINZ”) shows there were 52 more lifestyle property sales (+2.5%) for the three months ended October 2016 than for the three months ended October 2015. Overall, there were 2,175 lifestyle property sales in the three months ended October 2016, compared to 2,230 lifestyle property sales for the three months ended September 2016 (-2.5%), and 2,123 lifestyle property sales for the three months ended October 2015.

9,115 lifestyle properties were sold in the year to October 2016, 17% more than were sold in the year to October 2015. The value of lifestyle properties sold was $6.91 billion for the year to October 2016. . .